The Long Journey Home
by EsmeAmelia
Summary: GON fic. On the boat ride back to Thais, becoming human again has made Te'ijal sick and Mel realizes how important she has been to the group.
1. Chapter 1

AN: Wow, another Aveyond fic, I seem to be obsessed. Well, this one doesn't exactly follow the canon, merely because of that one narration that says the group arrived at Thais "a few hours later" after defeating Gyendal. I find that a tad difficult to believe, but anyway, this fic idea wouldn't leave me alone. Also, most of this was written before TLO came out.

"The Long Journey Home"

By EsmeAmelia

Chapter 1

"Take us to our ship," Mel ordered, squeezing the compass in her hand, praying that it would work even though it had never failed them before. Her eyes shut for a second before feeling that familiar drop of being whisked back to the ship, away from that awful cave.

Once her feet landed gently on solid ground, her eyes popped open, making sure everyone had made it safely back. She was still gripping Stella's legs. Lydia was still across from her, holding Stella's shoulders. Edward was behind Lydia, with Gyendal still slumped over his shoulder. Ulf was next to Edward, his head down in silent grief.

Behind everyone else was Galahad, carrying his wife. Te'ijal was lying limp in his arms, but still Mel could hear tiny moans of, "No . . . no . . ." coming from her. She couldn't tell whether or not the former vampire was conscious.

_Former _vampire. Mel didn't know how she'd ever associate that term with Te'ijal.

The entire group unanimously boarded the ship, even though it would take a good three days to sail to the port closest to Thais. Though it would probably be a shorter trip if they walked, no one felt up to walking after all they had just experienced.

Everyone was silent, even Lydia. Mel blinked hard as they carried Stella's body to the sleeping area and laid her in what used to be her berth. She kept blinking as Lydia touched Stella's head and murmured a spell that would preserve her body until her burial.

"That should do it," was all Lydia said when she looked back up. Her eyes were empty, as if all the energy had been drained out of her. "Well . . . I guess I should cast a sleeping spell on our prisoner so he doesn't wake up and try to kill us before we get there."

Mel couldn't respond. Something was stuck in her throat, something large and hard. Her eyes darted downward and stared vaguely at Stella's pale face with its eyes forever closed, unable to look up when she heard Lydia leaving, unable to even move.

Was this _real?_ It didn't _feel _real – there was a cloud in Mel's mind, as if she were in a dream. Perhaps this _was_ a dream and she would wake up soon in some inn, stirred awake by Lydia's complaining, Te'ijal and Galahad's bickering, and Stella's gentle voice reminding her that they had better set off soon.

Without any thought, Mel's hand slowly, hesitantly reached out to touch Stella's cheek and feel how horribly stiff it was, how cold it already was, keeping her hand there until she knew for certain that it couldn't be a dream, that Stella was truly dead. After removing her hand, she took hold of the sheet and spread it over the Nalythian's face, as was respectful to the dead, or so Mel had heard.

Shouldn't she be crying? Wasn't crying the appropriate response to a death? Mel was certain that Edward must be crying now – why couldn't she? Even when she concentrated on releasing tears from her eyes, still they wouldn't come. Why was that?

She wasn't sure how long she remained in that stupor. It was only a moan coming from somewhere nearby that compelled her to leave Stella's side and head for the berth in which Te'ijal lay.

Te'ijal . . .

Galahad was sitting next to his wife's berth, leaning over with his hand on her forehead. He had removed his armor, exposing his dusty brown shirt. "Te'ijal?" he whispered. "Te'ijal, can you hear me?"

Mel gulped – Galahad almost never called his wife by her real name. It was always, "demon spawn," "evil one," or when he was in a good mood, simply "wife." In fact, Mel could only remember him even _saying _his wife's name once, when he gave them the urgent news that Te'ijal had been captured.

Galahad leaned in closer to his wife's ear, his hand still on her forehead. "Te'ijal?" he said desperately. "Te'ijal . . . please . . ."

"What's wrong with her?" Mel asked softly, slightly intimidated by his display of emotion.

"I don't know," said Galahad, not turning away from his wife. "She just . . . fainted in my arms."

"Well . . . maybe it was just out of horror that she's no longer a vampire," Mel said in a feeble attempt to be humorous.

"No," Galahad said firmly. His fingers rubbed Te'ijal's forehead, digging into her now-soft skin. "She's feverish."

"Well . . . that could be an illusion. You know, because you've been a vampire so long that you're not used to feeling body warmth."

Galahad's head snapped up to glare at Mel. "Then _you _feel her."

"All right, I will." Mel stepped around Galahad, pushing him out of the way, but ceased her action suddenly when she got a full view of Te'ijal's ailing body. The ex-vampire was breathing unevenly, moaning every few seconds. Her head was twitching and her eyes were tightly shut, so much so that there were wrinkles in her eyelids. It took Mel a moment to gain enough courage to touch her head and find that Galahad was right – her skin was unnaturally hot.

"But . . . how?" Mel stammered.

Galahad sighed. "She's been cold for eight hundred years . . . maybe her body can't adjust to being warm . . . oh, I don't know!"

Mel whirled around to face him. "Well we need to _help _her!"

__

"How?"

Galahad exclaimed in a voice close to a shout, making Mel jump back in surprise.

After a moment of regaining her composure, Mel looked back at Te'ijal's frail body, feeling her chest tighten up. "I don't know."


	2. Chapter 2

"The Long Journey Home"

By EsmeAmelia

Chapter 2

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"Come on, Gyendal – the stag's getting away!"

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Te'ijal loved hunting at night. Everything always seemed more alive, more mysterious, more real in the dark. She didn't know precisely why, but she knew her brother felt the same way as she did. With her bow and arrows slung over her back, she rode her horse through the woods with Gyendal riding close behind her, savoring the cold night air.

"I'll bet I can shoot it first!" Gyendal teased.

"Oh come on, brother," Te'ijal said with a small laugh, "you and I both know that I'm the better shot." She rode further on, her eyes alert for any sign of movement in the moonlight.

Something whisked past the siblings, something so fast that it barely caught Te'ijal's eye, so fast that it blew leaves off the trees and bushes.

"What was that?" said Gyendal.

"The stag, probably," said Te'ijal. "Be quiet – it might come back."

The sister and brother were silent for a lingering moment, scarcely daring to breathe. For a while the only sound to be heard was the snorting of their horses.

But then . . .

A shadow seemed to emerge out of the darkness, barely discernable to the human eye. Te'ijal could barely catch it rushing down from the trees and knocking Gyendal off his horse, making it whinny in shock.

"Gyendal?" Te'ijal asked in shock, whipping her head around and finding a woman on top of her brother, hunched over, her back facing Te'ijal. The sound of Gyendal moaning in pain was enough motivation for Te'ijal to pull out an arrow and immediately shoot it into the woman's back.

The woman stilled herself for a moment before slowly rising to her feet, still turned away from Te'ijal. After a moment of merely standing there, she reached behind her and pulled the arrow out of her back as if she felt no pain at all. She slowly turned around, glaring at Te'ijal with red eyes. Her face was pale white and it seemed to almost glow in the moonlight.

"Who are you, archer?" she growled in a deep voice.

Without flinching from the woman's strange appearance, Te'ijal shot another arrow, which met its mark in the woman's right shoulder, though once again, she gave no reaction – she merely reached up and pulled the arrow out.

"Are you going to try that again?" the woman said in an amused voice.

Te'ijal gulped, though she was determined not to show a hint of fear. Her gaze went down to her brother, who was lying on the ground, his body twitching, his hand grasping his neck, which was bleeding heavily. "What have you done to my brother?"

The stranger shot a brief glance back at Gyendal's writhing body before facing Te'ijal once more. "Oh, him? Well he was going to be my dinner, but then you distracted me, so to speak."

"Dinner?" Te'ijal immediately raised her bow a third time. "I will give you five seconds to explain."

The woman gave a loud cackle. "I like you, human. You're amusing. In fact . . . I believe I'd like to get to know you better!"

With that, the stranger seemed to float up to Te'ijal's horse, knocking her to the ground with a mighty heave. Before she could react in any kind of way, she felt an intense, agonizing pain in her neck, as if two knifes had pierced her skin. She immediately shut her eyes, crying out in pain as her neck began tingling and her body began convulsing as if she were having a seizure.

Two icy hands gripped her shoulders so tightly that it felt like she was being crushed. It wasn't until she felt the warmth her own blood flowing down her neck when she finally gained the courage to open her eyes and realized that the stranger had sunk her teeth into her neck and was now sucking on her blood. She was sitting on Te'ijal's torso, clamping her body between her knees.

"What are you doing?" Te'ijal demanded, her arms fumbling for her bow but unable to move in the woman's grasp or stop the involuntary twitching.

The woman sat up gave a large, wicked grin, showing her blood-drenched teeth. "What do you think? Try figuring it out, will you?" She cackled loudly. "I'm glad I did not eat you. You and your brother will both make fine . . . vampires."

Galahad kept his hand on his wife's sweat-drenched forehead, flinching every time she moaned, silently willing it to stop, willing her to wake up. He felt his heart beating frantically in fear – his heart was beating, what a wonderful sensation, how he wished he could actually enjoy it and not worry about Te'ijal.

"Hey," said Edward's voice. Galahad looked up only long enough to see the prince coming down the stairs.

"Hey," Mel said gloomily.

Edward gulped nervously when he saw Te'ijal. "Um . . . how's she doing?" he asked softly.

"Not good," said Mel.

Galahad couldn't speak, couldn't move, could only continue staring at his wife, as if she would die if he looked away.

"Well . . . maybe her body's just adjusting to being human," Edward offered. "I mean . . . it's probably a shock, you know."

"Maybe . . ." said Mel, though she didn't sound convinced in any way.

Edward cleared his throat. "Um . . . anyway, I've got some peaches in case you guys are hungry." He tossed one star peach to Mel and one to Galahad, who barely managed to catch it before it landed on Te'ijal's bed.

Galahad stared at the peach, passing it from hand to hand. So many times had he attempted to eat human food during his three hundred year existence as a vampire. So many times had he hoped that _this _time the food would taste like he remembered it when he was a human. So many times had he forced the human food down even though it tasted so vile and failed to eliminate his craving for blood.

Did he dare to try eating now?

Finally he gained the courage to take a bite . . . and oh, how delicious it was. The soft flesh . . . the sweet juice . . . once he realized that he could taste again, Galahad consumed the peach as if he hadn't eaten in years – which was, from a certain point of view, true.

When there was nothing left but the pit, Galahad felt light, giddy, craving another peach . . . until he looked down at Te'ijal again. Suddenly he felt like scolding himself for enjoying something so throughly while his wife was lying in agony.

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I wish you could taste this, Te'ijal,

he thought. _Maybe you'd see that being human isn't so bad after all._


	3. Chapter 3

"The Long Journey Home"

By EsmeAmelia

Chapter 3

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Drinking human blood would complete the transformation.

Te'ijal wandered through the woods, keeping that thought in her mind. However vile the idea might be to her now, she had to drink human blood. Without it, she would be forever stuck between two worlds, neither human nor vampire, lost for eternity.

Never belonging.

All humans die sooner or later, she reasoned to herself. And all living things ate each other to survive. What she was doing now wasn't all that different from what she had been doing on that fateful hunting night. She was no longer human – she had different needs now.

Gyendal had been eager to go on his first hunt. Te'ijal wouldn't be surprised if her brother had already found a human and eaten it. For him, it was like he had never been human in the first place – he relished in his new existence.

Te'ijal supposed she should too – after all, there was nothing else she could do now that she had been bitten. Nothing except complete the transformation.

Hunting without her bow and arrows made her feel naked, even though she knew she wouldn't need them with her newly-gained strength. She had already decided that even though she was a vampire, she wouldn't get out of practice with her archery skills. Whether human or vampire, she was still an archer – that was part of her innate being.

As she crept from tree to tree, she realized she was thirsty. Thirsty. Thirsty not for water or any other sort of liquid drank by humans.

Thirsty for blood.

No, thirsty was too weak a word to describe how she felt. Her mouth and throat so dry that there was pain. The thirst seemed to penetrate into her very mind, robbing her of every thought except the urge for blood. Blood . . . blood . . . blood . . . she needed blood. Her search next to a small stream was turning into a starving person's desperate quest for food.

"Hello miss, bit late for a lady to be traveling alone, isn't it?"

Te'ijal barely took notice of the man strolling by the stream before her new vampire instincts took over. She jumped . . . floated, actually . . . at the man, knocking him to the ground. She held him down, ignoring his cries and struggles, and found his neck. That beautiful, fleshy neck. Without even thinking about what had once been her human morals, she bit him.

And drank.

And drank.

And drank.

With every second, the excitement grew. The blood tasted like nothing she had ever eaten in her human life, but nothing she had ever eaten before could possibly compare to it. It was warm . . . sweet . . . refreshing . . . invigorating . . . she just wanted to drink and drink for hours, but all too soon the blood turned sour and the man fell down dead.

Something told her to quickly look into the stream, where she saw her faint reflection in the ripples, the moonlight shining behind her. Her once peach flesh was quickly turning pale, more pale than that of any human. Her eyes were now red as the blood she had just drank. Just before her reflection faded away forever, she had one thought about it.

She was beautiful.

On her way back to the Underworld, she ran into Gyendal, who was now as pale as she was, with the same bright red eyes. Blood was still dripping from his fangs as he gave a large, wicked grin, clearly satisfied with his completed transformation. He had even taken to wearing a vampire cape.

"Well, my sister," he said, "I see that you had a successful hunt too."

They both cackled into the night.

Ulf had to be able to help her, Mel thought. Ulf was a scholar, surely he had studied his fair share of medical books. Surely he would know what was wrong with Te'ijal and be able to correct it.

No one spoke as the orc examined Te'ijal, feeling her head, checking her pulse, carefully checking every part of her. Galahad seemed to be holding his breath for far longer than any human could – Mel wondered if he too was having some difficulty adjusting to changing back into a human.

"Well . . ." he said after a while, ". . . I can't say I've read any books about what happens when a vampire turns back into a human, but . . ."

"But what?" Galahad said. "You must know _something."_

Ulf wrung his hands together. "I tried a lot . . . I even tried giving her an Elixir, but she couldn't swallow it. I don't know what's wrong with her . . . but there's _one_ thing I know for certain."

"What?" Mel, Edward, and Galahad exclaimed together.

Ulf took a deep breath, a grave look on his face.

"She's dying."


	4. Chapter 4

"The Long Journey Home"

By EsmeAmelia

Chapter 4

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Te'ijal's pale skin absorbed the creamy substance as she rubbed it in, making sure to cover every exposed area. She supposed that if her heart still beat, it would be pounding in excitement. Why did these human strangers with the garlic necklaces even give her the sunscreen in the first place? They certainly had no obligation to return to Ghed'are after they defeated the demon, and yet they had done so . . . simply because she had mentioned that she wished to see the sun.

She wasn't sure if that meant they were generous or stupid.

The lavender-haired girl who seemed to be their leader – Rhen, she was called – was smiling at her, as if she wasn't phased at all that a vampire would be joining her group. The green-haired boy called Lars was reacting in quite the opposite way – he was scowling at her, making sure to stay as far back as possible.

Too bad she had promised not to eat any of them – he would probably make a succulent morsel. Well, if she could somehow get that foul-smelling garlic necklace off of him.

"Are you ready?" Rhen asked.

"Just a moment," Te'ijal said as she replaced the lid on the sunscreen jar and carefully tucked it away in her pack. After looking around her home, she picked up her precious bow and arrows and slung them over her shoulder. "All right. Lead the way, humans."

As they made their way through the Halloween Hills forests, Te'ijal was able to show the others her fighting skills very quickly when she killed three giant bats with only three arrows. The Veldt woman Elini laughed and said that such a talented fighter should find herself many husbands, to which Te'ijal responded with only a smirk. She hadn't found anyone who would make a decent husband in over five hundred years – it was highly unlikely that she ever would.

Vampires had no need to marry, anyway.

Finally they reached the gateway into the Overworld. Te'ijal's new traveling companions stepped through the gate while hardly noticing the shift in atmosphere, but Te'ijal lingered behind. She could see a faint spark of light peeking through the cave, which was already much brighter than anything to be found in Ghe'dare.

For a moment she wondered if the lotion would work. Then she wondered if these humans were tricking her so she would walk into the sun and they would be rid of another vampire. It was certainly a possibility. But then again, if she was quick enough, she could duck back into the cave before the sun destroyed her – and surely none of these humans would be able to catch her if she wanted to flee from them. Even the immortal Sun Priest was still, for all practical purposes, a human.

She walked forward, maintaining her dignity, not showing any of the excitement she felt inside, not revealing to anyone that she hadn't seen the sun for five hundred years and it was now nothing but a vague, dull memory of a memory, as everything from her old human life now was.

And before she realized it, she was outside.

At first she could see nothing, nothing but bright, bright light, light that seemed to overpower everything around it. She had to blink much harder than any normal vampire would in order to get her eyes to adjust to the light. Once the shapes materialized in her vision, she saw that the others were looking back at her, waiting for her to catch up with them, and she actually didn't care that they were staring at her quizzically. She was too busy absorbing the light, light, light, the thing all vampires feared, yet now she was basking in it.

The sun.

Mel ran up to the deck as fast as she could after Ulf gave those finalizing words about Te'ijal's condition, clutching her mouth, already tasting the acid within it. Once she reached the deck, she rushed up to the rail and leaned over it, releasing her nausea in long bouts, struggling not to think about what was happening or what had just happened.

After several long moments, she finally felt stable enough to stand back up, though she continued to grip the rail for support. She stared out at the ever-changing ocean, feeling the floor bobbing up and down under her, but unable to absorb any external sensations. All her mind could see was Te'ijal's withering face.

Te'ijal, her savior. Te'ijal, their leader. Te'ijal, the strongest of them all. The vampire who cared. The vampire who dared to challenge all the other vampires in order to protect the humans. Te'ijal had brought them all together – were it not for her, light would have already been destroyed and the world already enslaved.

And now she was dying.

Mel began shaking, digging her fingernails into the wooden rail for feeble support. The Orb of Life . . . it had been _her _idea to use it, _her _hunch that it might make Gyendal human and vulnerable again. She thought back to that moment when the notion came to her, trying to remember if the fact that Te'ijal was nearby and thus would be affected by the Orb as well had even entered her mind, but she found that she could remember almost nothing of anything she thought during the battle. She remembered the pain of her wounds and the relief when Stella overcame her enchantment – she remembered what _happened, _but what she _experienced _seemed to have escaped her mind, as if her mind had ceased working during the battle and let her instinct take over everything.

That was it – she hadn't been thinking. Just like how she hadn't been thinking when she handed Gyendal the Orb in the first place. Did she ever think at all? No, she was a thief. Thieves didn't think – they simply did.

Another image came into Mel's head. Stella's cold body lying in the berth below, never to move again. Stella, who had given her life to save them all. The lump was forming in Mel's throat again, but still there were no tears.

Thieves didn't cry, either.


	5. Chapter 5

"The Long Journey Home"

By EsmeAmelia

Chapter 5

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"I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride."

The minister had been grinning for the entire wedding, clearly amused by the whole thing, but Te'ijal didn't care. She was getting what she wanted.

"I have to KISS her?" Galahad complained – he was so cute when he complained, which was often.

"It is tradition," said the minister, still grinning.

"Come, cupcake," Te'ijal purred, "let's get on with it." She closed her eyes and puckered her lips, daring him to comply to tradition. When five seconds passed without the kiss coming, she stroked the soul pendant around her neck, reminding him that he was winning his freedom with this – or so he thought.

The kiss finally came, though he did it with his mouth shut and his teeth ground. It didn't matter – one day he would learn to love her.

And he would have all eternity to learn.

"All right, I have given what was unfairly asked of me," said Galahad. "Now give me my soul back!"

"As you wish, my succulent darling," said Te'ijal. Before anyone could do anything, she leaned forward and sank her fangs into Galahad's neck, tasting his blood. His blood was so delicious – she almost kept on drinking, but she quickly pulled back, allowing him to live.

Well, maybe "live" was the wrong word to use.

Galahad stumbled backward, clasping his neck. "You! You BIT me!"

"Don't worry, my tasty," Te'ijal said with Galahad's blood still on her lips, "the tingling shall subside. It will take a while to die, but when it is over, you shall be like me."

"A VAMPIRE?" Galahad yelled, making the other members of the party jump back. "YOU TURNED ME INTO A VAMPIRE?"

Te'ijal smirked at her new husband, winding the soul pendant around her fingers. "You said you wanted your soul to be free. A soul pendant cannot hold your soul if you are dead."

"TRICKSTER! SOULLESS!" Galahad swung his fist at his new wife, but she easily ducked. "Oh no," he gasped, as if realizing it for himself, "I am one of you!"

"Come now, husband," Te'ijal said, a wicked grin on her face, "it's not THAT bad." In fact, she thought, once he got used to it, he would learn to love it.

But he would also need to get used to the weakness of the vampire. She quickly reached into her pack and pulled out the jar of sunscreen. "Now here, take some of my sunscreen – you're going to need it now."

Galahad stared at the sunscreen for a long moment, his face turning pale, though not as pale as he would be after he drank human blood. Te'ijal couldn't wait for that moment. How handsome he would be then.

But first he would have to deal with the shock – and he was experiencing a whole lot of shock. After mumbling something Te'ijal couldn't make out, his body stiffened and he fainted, landing on the floor with a loud thud.

"Never you worry," Te'ijal said to the others, who were all leaning against a wall and looking quite uncomfortable. "I shall carry my husband until he revives." She crouched down and began rubbing his face and neck with sunscreen, knowing that vulnerability to the sun was one of the first things to show up when one transformed into a vampire. Then she gently scooped him into her arms and rose to her feet, never taking her eyes off his face.

"Another happy marriage story!" the minister called after them. "Take care, lovebirds!"

Te'ijal might have eaten that annoying priest if her attention wasn't focused on her new husband. He was hers now – for eternity.

And he was so cute when he was unconscious.

It was at least two hours before Mel got the courage to go back to the sleeping quarters where Te'ijal lay. She found Galahad still sitting next to her, stroking her hair, whispering something to his wife that Mel couldn't make out.

"How is she?" Mel asked, keeping her words steady, effectively hiding her feelings.

"Still the same," said Galahad.

Mel gulped. "And . . . is that good or bad?"

"How should _I _know?"

Mel gulped again, slowly moving closer, unable to avert her focus from Te'ijal's clenched teeth and scrunched eyes. "Galahad . . ." she said carefully after a few minutes, ". . . how come you're not sick too?"

Galahad stroked his chin. "Perhaps it's because I never completed the transformation. So long as I didn't drink human blood . . ."

"I know, I know," interrupted Mel. "So long as you didn't drink human blood, you weren't a complete vampire." She sighed, remembering how Te'ijal was always trying to get her husband to eat Lydia – perhaps joking, perhaps not, it was hard to tell with her. After staring at Te'ijal for a few more minutes, she finally gained the courage to look up at Galahad, who was rubbing his eyes.

"Are you all right?" she asked.

It was such a simple, logical question, yet she felt embarrassed for asking it, as if she were prying into his privacy. He was, after all, such a difficult man to figure out anyway. Always complaining about his wife, always protesting his existence as a vampire, yet here he was, devastated that his wife was dying.

"I'm a little tired," he admitted.

"Maybe you haven't _completely _avoided the sickness," Mel suggested, though she still wasn't sure just what this sickness was. "Why don't you try and get some sleep?"

Galahad stared down at his wife with such an intensity that Mel thought he was afraid that she would die if he looked away. "I can't . . ." he whispered.

Mel gently put her arm on the knight's shoulder. "Yes you can," she persisted. "I'll watch over her."

Galahad slowly got up, his body stiff from sitting in one place for so long. "All right. But you'll wake me if . . ."

"Yes," said Mel, waving her hand as if to shoo him away, once again looking down at Te'ijal's frail body. She heard him climbing into a bunk . . . which suddenly made her feel alone. Alone with a dying woman. And, Mel remembered, Stella's body was still lying in one of the bunks near her. She was surrounded by death.

Te'ijal moaned, causing Mel to stiffen up, part of her feebly hoping that she would awaken and another part certain that she would die now, but neither occurred. The former vampire simply lay there, allowing death to slowly consume her.

"Don't die, Te'ijal," Mel suddenly whispered. "You saved my life. The world would have been consumed by darkness if it weren't for you."

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No,

an evil little voice in Mel's head said, _that's not entirely true. If you hadn't stolen that orb, neither you nor the world would have needed saving in the first place._

Mel gulped and ground her teeth, feeling the truth stinging her heart.

Stella was dead.

Te'ijal was dying.

The only family she ever had was breaking apart.

And it was all her doing.


	6. Chapter 6

"The Long Journey Home"

By EsmeAmelia

Chapter 6

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"Well sister, I see you have finally returned," Gyendal said as he strode into Te'ijal's house. "And I hear that you're married as well?"

"Yes," said Te'ijal, pointing over at the sofa, where Galahad sat sulking in front of the fire. "Meet your brother-in-law, Galahad."

"What?" Galahad said from the sofa. "In-laws? You never said anything about in-laws!"

"Forgive my husband," Te'ijal said to Gyendal. "He's still getting used to his new life."

"Life?" Galahad exclaimed, getting up from the sofa to glare at his wife. "LIFE? You actually dare to call this a life? You KILLED me!"

"And someday you will thank me for it," Te'ijal said in a cheeky manner. "Won't he, Gyendal?"

"Indeed," said Gyendal, raising an eyebrow as he strode up to Galahad, examining his still-peach face. "He hasn't hunted yet, has he?"

"He will," said Te'ijal, seductively walking her fingers up Galahad's arm. "Won't you, my tasty?"

"No I WON'T!" Galahad snarled, pushing his wife's hand off him. "Get away from me, both of you!" He defiantly slammed himself back on the sofa and folded his arms, muttering curses to himself.

Gyendal's other eyebrow went up. "Well, good luck with him." He slowly strode towards a wall and looked up at a portrait of the druid Rashnu – the druid rescued by Te'ijal's human friends.

"Wasn't it considerate of those humans?" said Gyendal, staring up at the portrait, a certain air in his voice that made Te'ijal uncomfortable. "Coming here and rescuing our druid, quite noble of them. Of course, they also came here with those garlic necklaces – and oh yes, they staked Martin."

"I thought you didn't like Martin," said Te'ijal. "You kept saying that you wished someone would stake him."

"Nobody liked Martin," said Gyendal. "It is the principle of the matter." He suddenly turned to face his sister, whipping his cape around him. "Don't try to deny it, sister – I know you didn't travel to the human world just to capture a husband."

"What are you saying?" said Te'ijal, shifting her eyes in an uneasy manner.

"Oh, I think you know perfectly well what I'm saying." He grabbed her shoulders, squeezing them in a grip that would break a regular human's bones. "You were traveling with humans, treating them as if they were friends instead of dinner, and you didn't once try to eat them."

"They needed my skills," Te'ijal protested. "You know perfectly well that Ahriman would have enslaved the vampire population as well as the humans."

"We could have fought him off ourselves if he ever tried," said Gyendal. He let go of his sister and snarled as he made his way to the table on which the jar of sunscreen lay. "What is this?" he said in a disgusted voice, pointing to the jar.

"It is none of your business," said Te'ijal, refusing to make eye contact with her brother.

"Oh really?" said Gyendal. Before Te'ijal could say or do anything more, his arm swept across the table, knocking the jar to the floor, where it broke into hundreds of pieces.

"NO!" Galahad screamed, rushing over to the broken jar and kneeling by the sunscreen splattered all over the floor. "No, no, no, NO!" He glared up at Gyendal. "How could you? How COULD you?"

Te'ijal, meanwhile, refused to react. She wouldn't give her brother the satisfaction of seeing her devastation from the thought that she would never see the sun again.

"So you've been in the SUN," Gyendal hollered, uttering that last word with such disgust that it sounded like he was struggling to say it. "You've been associating with HUMANS. Is it because you want to BE one of them?"

Te'ijal ground her fangs. "How can you even SUGGEST such a thing?"

"Prove it," said Gyendal.

"How?"

"Seek out the humans you traveled with, lure them down here, and eat them."

Te'ijal knew she would be shuddering if she were a human. Faces dashed through her head – Rhen, Elini, Dameon, Lars, Pirate John, even that annoying Mad Marge. The thought of eating any of them was unbearable, though she of course wouldn't say it out loud.

But Gyendal figured it out. "I knew it. You've grown soft, haven't you?" He floated gently to his sister and began stroking her shoulder with his long fingernails. "Prone to weakness. Emotionally attached to your FOOD. What kind of vampire is that?"

Te'ijal glared at her brother. "Get out," she said steadily. "Now."

Surprisingly, Gyendal obeyed. He strode towards the door, but before he exited, he took one last disapproving look at his sister.

"This isn't over," he said.

Night had fallen. Everyone was in bed except Ulf, who was taking the first shift at the helm, and Mel, who was still watching Te'ijal. The sound of the ex-vampire's troubled, uneven breathing mixed with everyone else's soft, slow breathing was troubling her, along with the fact that she could barely see Te'ijal's face in the dim light of the single lantern.

Actually, everything was troubling her.

Te'ijal might be dead by morning, but _why?_ Mel still couldn't figure it out. Maybe it wasn't physical at all. Maybe she was simply willing herself to die because she didn't want to exist as a human.

With that idea, Mel felt rage building up inside of her. "Is that it?" she said out loud, not caring if she woke anyone up. "You WANT to die? What the hell happened to the big tough vampire fighter? Oh right, she's NOT a vampire anymore, is she?" She slapped the pillow, just inches away from Te'ijal's head. "So the ex-vampire thinks there's nothing left to live for? What a COWARD." She glared at Te'ijal's closed eyes. "I used to think you were amazing. Strong, brave, smart, all that. Turns out I was wrong – that was just the VAMPIRE part of you, wasn't it?" She grabbed Te'ijal's shoulders and began shaking her. "Wake UP, will you? Is being human really so awful that you want to sleep yourself out of existence?"

Te'ijal moaned loudly, coughing slightly, her head lolling backward. Mel suddenly stiffened up, dropping the former vampire back onto the bunk. Was this it? Was death at last consuming her?

No, Te'ijal moaned again and arched her back, but then her breath returned to the uneven whisper it had been all day and her body relaxed again, back to its previous state of lifelessness. Mel breathed heavily, desperately trying once more to figure out what was wrong.

Then all of a sudden, in the midst of her despair, she got an idea.


	7. Chapter 7

"The Long Journey Home"

By EsmeAmelia

Chapter 7

__

Te'ijal struggled against the ropes that held her even though she knew it was pointless. Gyendal had used his magic to make the ropes strong enough to hold a vampire – no amount of struggling would break them.

The windows were at least fifteen feet high, overlooking the forest and the sea beyond it. The sea, with the horizon over which her doom would rise. Gyendal's minions had arranged it so that she would have a perfect view of her death.

With the sunrise, everything would end – vampires had no afterlife. Her precious awareness would fade away forever, she would vanish into the incomprehensible span of eternity. The sun, once something she loved, now would destroy her.

She muttered curses to herself, though it did nothing to ease the pain in her heart that didn't beat, for there was something else causing even more grief than her impending death.

"Burn her alone, I'm leaving."

Her husband's last words, full of hatred for his wife and relief to finally be rid of her. Three hundred years had done nothing to soften his heart. To think that she had actually been foolish enough to believe that he had learned to love her, that his constant complaining was just concealing his real feelings. No, he hated her every bit as much as he had three hundred years ago, the ungrateful fool.

He hated her enough to leave her to her fate.

She never should have bitten him. She should have left him to die after a mere seventy or eighty years instead of granting him eternal life . . . yet even now, she couldn't bear to think of him lying in the ground.

Love made people stupid.

Even vampires weren't immune to the stupidity love caused.

The sky had begun to turn red at the horizon – she didn't have much time left. Perhaps fifteen minutes, perhaps less, not that it really mattered. She had heard that sometimes when humans were in the last moments of their lives, they would have their loved ones by their sides to comfort them, but a vampire could have no such luxury.

She would die alone.

Because no knight in shining armor would come to her rescue.

"Ulf! Ulf!" Mel shouted as she came running up to the deck.

"What?" Ulf asked, only slightly looking up from the helm.

"I think I know what's wrong with Te'ijal," Mel said in a single breath.

"What?" Ulf exclaimed, now turning his back on the helm so he could give Mel his full attention.

Mel inhaled deeply to catch her breath before speaking. "Te'ijal's human now, right?"

"Uh . . . right?" said Ulf.

"So she needs the things that other humans need," Mel continued, speaking as rapidly as she could while still being legible, "but she hasn't eaten human food in eight hundred years. I think that's it – she's starving. She needs _food._"

Ulf scrunched his mouth, wrinkling his brown face, testing the validity of her statement. "But Mel," he said after a moment, "I already tried to give her an Elixir and she wouldn't take it."

"An Elixir is medicine," Mel said, looking up at him in desperation. "What she needs is actual _food."_

"And how is she going to eat it when she's unconscious?" Ulf argued.

Mel felt her breath increasing its speed, but she forced herself to keep talking. "I . . . I dunno . . . maybe she can still swallow . . . maybe . . ."

Ulf squeezed his chin. "Hmm . . . that's a thought . . . but she'd need someone to chew her food first."

"I'll do it," Mel said immediately, even though Ulf probably would have volunteered himself if she hadn't. "I'll chew for her – let's just do it quickly."

After pondering for another precious moment, Ulf finally agreed. "All right, it's worth a try," he said. "Just don't get your hopes up too high, all right?"

Mel chewed the bread so fiercely that anyone would assume that she was trying to grind her teeth away. She could feel it becoming a sticky, disgusting mush in her mouth, but she resisted the urge to swallow. It had to be as soft as possible for Te'ijal.

"All right, that should be enough," Ulf said as he gently pried open Te'ijal's mouth. "I'll hold her while you spit the food into her mouth."

Mel leaned over and pressed her open mouth against Te'ijal's as if kissing her. She let the chewed bread fall into the former vampire's mouth and then immediately pressed it shut again.

"Keep her mouth shut," Ulf said. "Make sure she swallows." He began stroking Te'ijal's throat, which, Mel assumed, would help her swallow. "Don't let her open her mouth yet," he said.

Mel had no intention of disobeying, but she found that it was becoming more difficult – Te'ijal's chin seemed to be pushing against her hand, wanting to open her mouth and get rid of the invading food. "Oh no you don't," Mel muttered. "I'm not gonna let you go that easy."

After a few tense moments that felt like weeks, Ulf finally told Mel that she could let go. Once Mel obeyed, he began examining Te'ijal's open mouth.

"Well?" Mel said quickly. "Did she eat it?"

Ulf's face was just inches above Te'ijal's mouth. "Well . . . I can't _see _it."

"Good," said Mel. "Let's give her some more food."

Mel chewed for what felt like hours, only stopping to spit the food into Te'ijal's mouth and encourage her to swallow. Her jaw was beginning to hurt and excess saliva was dribbling down her chin, but she wouldn't be bothered to wipe it off. During this time, neither she nor Ulf said anything – all their attention was focused on the former vampire.

"All right," Ulf finally said, causing Mel to jump slightly at the sudden sound. "I think she's had enough – we don't want to _over_feed her." He took out a handkerchief and wiped Mel's mouth and chin. "You did very well. If she makes it, I'm sure she'll be proud of you."

If she makes it. Those were the only words that sank into Mel's mind. "So you don't know if she'll be all right?" she said desperately.

Ulf sighed as he patted her shoulder with his large Orc hand. "Let's just see what happens. But once again, don't get your hopes up to high."


	8. Chapter 8

"The Long Journey Home"

By EsmeAmelia

Chapter 8

Mel slowly opened her eyes, her entire body aching. She yawned, trying to figure out why her bed was so uncomfortable this morning . . . but then she realized that she was slumped over someone else's body. She quickly shot up to a sitting position and saw Te'ijal's face, which immediately brought back everything that happened last night.

"Te'ijal?" she asked quickly, grabbing the ex-vampire's shoulder. "Te'ijal? Are you all right? Please be all right."

Te'ijal's eyelids were quivering, as if she were struggling to wake up. Should Mel see that as a good sign or a bad sign? She couldn't figure that out – she could only watch. "Come on . . ." she muttered. "Come on . . . wake up . . . come on . . . _wake up_."

The former vampire made a slight sound, something that almost sounded like a word, though Mel couldn't guess what word it might be. But then it became a murmur . . . which became a whisper . . . which became a very definite word.

"Mm . . . Mmm . . . Mmmeeel?"

Mel nearly fell off the bunk, but she managed to steady herself. She almost screamed to everyone else that Te'ijal was all right, but she remembered Ulf's warning. A small word didn't necessarily mean she was all right. "Te'ijal? Can you hear me?"

Te'ijal's eyelids fluttered, gradually revealing her newly-violet eyes. "M-Mel?" she whispered in a shaky voice. "What happened? . . . I feel like I've been . . ."

Mel gasped in delight. "It's all right," she managed to say between relieved breaths, reaching over to brush the confused ex-vampire's forehead, which was drenched in cold sweat. "You're going to be fine."

Te'ijal was blinking rapidly. "I saw things . . . I relived events from the past . . ."

"You were probably dreaming," Mel said, still unable to steady her breath. "Don't worry, we'll explain everything."

"Dreaming?" Te'ijal said in a dazed voice. "That's impossible, vampires don't . . ." She stopped abruptly, her eyes widening, as if she only now remembered what had happened to her. Slowly, hesitantly, she raised her hand in front of her eyes, staring with horror at her new skin tone.

Mel thought it best to quickly wake the others and offer Te'ijal a distraction. She dashed over to Galahad's bunk and began shaking his body. "Galahad! Wake up! She's awake!"

It was as if Galahad's mind had been prepared to wake up if it heard these words – he practically jumped out of bed and rushed to his wife's side. "Te'ijal?" he breathed, encircling her head with his arms. "Are you all right?"

"Galahad?" Te'ijal blinked again, as if trying to make sure that it was her husband in front of her.

"Yes," Galahad replied, making no effort to hide the relief in his voice. "I'm here, Te'ijal, I'm here."

Though she would have wanted to talk to Te'ijal for a long time, Mel figured it was probably best to leave the husband and wife alone for a moment. Smiling the entire time, she walked backwards out of the sleeping quarters.

Once more Mel stood on the deck, once more she leaned against the rail and stared out at the ocean. The sun was rising, giving off a peaceful light, making the ocean sparkle. Mel didn't usually care much for sunrises – most of the time she was asleep during them anyway – but today the sunrise brought a calming presence, a sense of hope.

She heard footsteps behind her and turned around to find Te'ijal heading for the rail. The former vampire was wearing a dark blue shawl around her arms – apparently the crisp morning air was too cold for someone not used to feeling temperature. She didn't acknowledge Mel's presence; she merely leaned against the rail next to her.

Was she expecting Mel to say something? If so, what was she expecting Mel to say?

Te'ijal stared out at the ocean, a solemn expression on her face, her hands folded on the rail, the slight breeze blowing little tufts of her red hair. "Galahad told me what happened to Stella . . ." she said in a distant voice, as if she were talking to herself instead of Mel.

Stella. Mel shuddered unexpectedly, struggling not to think of the Naylithian lying dead and cold in the bunk. Why hadn't Te'ijal already known about her death? Had she really passed out _that _quickly, or did she simply not remember?

"Ulf told me what you did last night," Te'ijal said in that same distant, monotone voice. "How you apparently saved my . . . life." She said the last word with an air of unfamiliarity, communicating that the very idea of being alive was alien to her.

Mel halfway expected a thank you or some other form of gratitude, but nothing came. For a moment she was disappointed, though her reasonable side told her that Te'ijal was still recovering from the shock of becoming human.

Or maybe she _wasn't _grateful because she _wanted _to die.

"It must have taken a lot of willpower to do that," Te'ijal finally said, though there still wasn't a hint of either gratitude or anger in her voice. It was a mere statement, not an emotional expression.

Mel shrugged. "Well, you saved my life. Now I've finally repaid you."

Te'ijal was once again silent, gazing into the distance. Now that she was no longer in danger, Mel could really study how different she looked as a human. It wasn't just her different skin tone or eye color, either. When she was a vampire, Te'ijal always carried herself with confidence and dignity. Her stare alone was enough to generate a shudder – there was always a real sensation that this was a dangerous woman, even though she was a friend.

She certainly didn't look dangerous now. In fact, there was uncertainty in her face, something Mel would have never imagined that Te'ijal was able to feel. Uncertainty and . . . loneliness? Why would she be lonely? Aside from Stella, her friends were still there, she still had her husband . . .

No . . . Mel was looking at it from her limited human perspective. She had only been around for eighteen years – Te'ijal had existed for centuries. As a vampire, she saw humans die all the time. She probably couldn't ever get too attached to humans – it was other _vampires _who could be her true friends.

And aside from Galahad, she might never see any of her vampire friends again.

Acting on impulse, Mel gently placed her hand on Te'ijal's. Her skin was warm now, no longer cold like death – quite pleasant, actually. Surprisingly, the ex-vampire didn't yank her hand away. In fact, she seemed to relax a tiny bit.

"My brother is in custody," Te'ijal said in that monotone voice. "The Orb has been destroyed. Now you and your prince can go live happily ever after. It's over."

_Was_ it over? Mel wasn't sure if she could say it was. Gyendal might have been captured, but he was still alive. He was human now, but he was still a powerful mage. Mel hoped the king and queen of Thais would sentence him to death, but for some reason she was hesitant to say it in front of Te'ijal. _"I don't want to kill you, Gyendal,_" she had said all those months ago. Did she still feel that way about her brother? What had led to such division between the siblings, anyway?

And what about the Orb of Death? The Oracle's records said it was never finished . . . but what if they were wrong? If it actually existed, it could still be used – perhaps not by Mel, but by another descendent of Darkthrop. Mel shuddered when she remembered that since she and Edward were getting married, it would be required for them to reproduce. Would _her _child end up being the one who fulfilled the prophecy?

"But what happens next?" Te'ijal suddenly said, blinking at the ocean, almost looking like she was trying to keep herself from crying.

Mel's fingers curled around Te'ijal's until they were actually holding hands, something she couldn't recall ever doing with the former vampire before. Once again Te'ijal didn't resist – perhaps she even took some comfort from it.

But for her question, Mel had no answers for either of them. Everything had changed for them both. Everything. As they stood together, both gazing at the hypnotic waves and pondering their futures, Mel knew there was only one possible answer.

"I don't know."

THE END


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